This chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting is made with soft and moist chocolate cake layers and is frosted with silky peanut butter frosting.
The moist and fluffy chocolate cake serves as the perfect base for the luscious peanut butter frosting, creating a harmonious balance of sweetness and savory notes.
This irresistible combination is a favorite among dessert lovers, providing a delightful treat for any occasion.
Whether enjoyed on its own or paired next to a cup of coffee or tea, this delicious cake is sure to satisfy even the most discerning sweet tooth.
For more delicious chocolate cake recipes, check out my chocolate brooklyn blackout cake, chocolate caramel cake, Matildas chocolate cake, and chocolate coffee cake.
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Why this recipe works
- Peanut butter frosting- this frosting is made with creamy peanut butter and a little bit of butter, and is not too sweet, just perfectly balanced and silky smooth frosting that you can eat with a spoon!
- Texture- this cake has moist and tender chocolate cake layers that are light and fluffy and frosted with creamy and silky smooth peanut butter frosting that will melt in your mouth.
- One bowl chocolate cake- this chocolate cake comes together in just one bowl and uses super simple ingredients!
- Peanut butter and chocolate flavor- this cake has the most delicious flavor combination of peanut butter and chocolate! You get plenty of peanut butter flavor and rich chocolate flavor in every bite.
How to make even cake layers
My biggest tip to make even cake layers is to use a scale and cake strips. Weigh the chocolate cake batter and divide it into two even pans.
Then use cake strips to make sure your cake layers bake evenly and don’t develop a dome on top. Cake strips give you an evenly baked cake with a flat top.
Ingredients
Before you start to make this chocolate peanut butter cake recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
Full measurements are in the recipe card below.
Flour– we used all-purpose flour for this recipe, self-rising flour, and cake flour will work great as well.
Dutch cocoa powder– we like to use Dutch-process cocoa powder for our chocolate cake because we like the deep and rich chocolate taste, but the natural cocoa powder will work great as well!
Baking powder and baking soda – to help the cake rise.
Granulated sugar– we like to use granulated sugar, also the most common sugar used in baking. Caster sugar will work great as well.
Vegetable oil– I used vegetable oil for this recipe. Canola oil will work great for this recipe.
Eggs- To give the cake a good structure. Make sure you’re using room-temperature eggs.
Buttermilk- gives the cake extra moisture. You can make your own buttermilk if you don’t have one on hand. Simply mix a cup of milk with a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice and let it sit for at least 10 minutes.
Hot coffee- make a strong hot coffee, you can use espresso or instant coffee, both will work.
Vanilla extract- Vanilla extract Is an essential ingredient for chocolate cake.
Salt- We used kosher salt for this recipe. Salt doesn’t give the cake a salty taste, it helps to enhance the chocolate flavor.
For the peanut butter frosting
Peanut butter- any peanut butter kind will work for this recipe, natural, processed, chunky, or smooth. The results will be different for each peanut butter kind. We prefer to use smooth store-bought peanut butter like skippy or Jiff.
Butter– use room-temperature unsalted butter.
Vanilla extract- vanilla extract adds extra flavor. For extra vanilla flavor, use vanilla bean extract or an actual vanilla bean!
Powder sugar- you will need powdered sugar for this recipe. you don’t have to buy powdered sugar, you can simply make it at home by blending granulated sugar in a blender or food processor.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180 (350f) and prep two 8-inch baking pans with cooking spray and parchment paper.
Into a large mixing bowl, add the eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk, vanilla extract, kosher salt, and granulated sugar, sift the cocoa powder, and mix with a whisk.
Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda, and mix with a whisk until almost combined.
Add the hot coffee and mix until the batter is smooth and has no lumps of flour.
Divide the mixture into two 8-inch baking pans, I suggest using cake strips for even baking. (weight the batter for better results) and bake in a preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. (You can also use a 9-inch cake pan)
Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting so the frosting won't melt off the cake.
Make the peanut butter frosting
Into a large bowl add room temperature butter, peanut butter, vanilla extract, heavy cream, and kosher salt, and mix with a hand mixer or a stand mixer until it is light and fluffy.
Then add ½ of the powdered sugar at a time (you don’t want to be in a powdered sugar cloud) and mix until smooth and silky.
Assembly
Pipe a small dollop of the frosting on the surface that you will frost on. Lay the first cake layer over the frosting dot.
Top the first cake layer with about ⅓ of the frosting and spread an even layer using a spatula.
Top it with the second cake layer. Frost the cake with the remaining frosting and make a wave pattern using an offset spatula. Slice and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and cream cheese. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
- Make sure that you are using fresh ingredients like baking soda and baking powder. If they are expired your cake will not rise up beautifully.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with the back of a knife.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have a moist cake and not a dense and dry cake.
- Line your baking pan with parchment paper! This step helps the cake to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your loaf cake will release easily from the pan.
- Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to frost this cake as it is pulled out of the oven, but let the cake cool for at least 1 hour so it will be firmer and won’t crumble up, and prevent the frosting from melting.
Faq's
I used creamy peanut butter which is not natural kind. The natural kind is runny and will be hard to achieve the thick and creamy texture of the frosting.
You can use the crunchy peanut butter as well instead of the creamy one. Use brands like jiff or skippy for the best result.
Yes. You can use 8 or 9-inch cake pans. Take into consideration that the cake layers will be thinner and you will need to bake it for less time.
No! you can’t taste the coffee. Adding the coffee simply enhances the chocolate flavor. So, don’t skip the coffee on the cake!
Yes! Bake this cake in a 13 by 9 inch baking pan until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs.
Storing
This cake will last up to 4 in the fridge. Cover the cake with plastic wrap or foil to prevent it from drying out. This cake tastes amazing for 4 days!
Freezing
You can freeze this cake after it cooled completely in an airtight freezer-friendly container for up to 3 months, some people find the cake tastes better after freezing it.
You can freeze the whole cake or slice it into slices and then freeze it.
If you are freezing individual slices of the cake, I would recommend storing them in a ziplock bag and then transferring them to an airtight freezer-friendly container.
Make it ahead of time
You can make this cake ahead by freezing the cake layers ahead of time. Wrap each cake layer with a few layers of plastic wrap and freeze for up to 2 months.
Thaw at room temperature for 1-2 hours or in the fridge overnight.
When you are ready to frost and assemble the cake, make the frosting, and assemble the cake as written in the instructions!
Substitutions
Dairy-free- to make this cake dairy-free, replace the buttermilk and milk with almond milk. Also, replace the heavy cream with vegan heavy cream.
Egg-free- to make this cake egg-free, replace the eggs with ⅔ cup of applesauce.
Gluten-free - if you want to make this recipe gluten-free, simply replace the flour with gluten-free flour.
Variations
Peanuts- add ⅓ cup of chopped peanuts on top of the frosting layer for an added crunch of peanuts!
Nut butter- if you are allergic to peanut butter but still want to make this recipe, use your favorite nut butter instead like almond butter, cashew butter, etc.
Peanut butter swirl- melt peanut butter and top the cake batter with dollops of peanut butter, and swirl it with a toothpick for a beautiful look.
Chocolate ganache topping- top this cake with a chocolate drip made with chocolate ganache. Use the recipe from my chocolate ganache cake.
Peanut butter cup- top this cake with chopped peanut butter cups for extra texture and beautiful decoration.
Equipment
- Mixing bowl (set of 3)
- Whisk Set (pack of 3) to whisk the ingredients together
- 8-inch cake pans.
- Rubber spatula
More chocolate and peanut butter recipes
Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies- These fudgy, and moist chocolate peanut butter brownies are stuffed with a thick layer of creamy peanut butter in every bite!
Peanut Butter Balls With Rice Krispies- These no bake peanut butter balls with rice Krispies are crunchy and delicious and are super easy to make. They will turn into your favorite candy to make!
Scotcharoos- These easy scotcharoos are no bake bars made with rice Krispies cereal, and peanut butter mixture, and topped with melted chocolate and butterscotch chips.
If you tried this recipe, don’t forget to leave a rating and a comment below. We love hearing from you.
If you liked this recipe
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Cake With Peanut Butter Frosting
Ingredients
For the cake
- 3 Eggs
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cup Granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup Cocoa powder
- 1 cup Buttermilk
- ⅓ cup Vegetable oil
- ¾ cup Coffee hot
- 2 cups Flour
- 2 teaspoon Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking soda
For the peanut butter frosting
- ½ cup Butter softened, unsalted
- 1 cup Peanut butter creamy, like Jiff, or Skippy
- 1 ⅓ cups Powdered sugar
- ⅓ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup Heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 (350f) and prep two 8-inch baking pans with cooking spray and parchment paper.
- Into a large mixing bowl, add the eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk, vanilla extract, kosher salt, and granulated sugar, sift the cocoa powder, and mix with a whisk.
- Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda, and mix with a whisk until almost combined.
- Add the hot coffee and mix until the batter is smooth and has no lumps of flour.
- Divide the mixture into two 8-inch baking pans, I suggest using cake strips for even baking. (weight the batter for better results) and bake in a preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. (You can also use a 9-inch cake pan)
- Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting so the frosting won't melt off the cake.
Make the peanut butter frosting
- Into a large bowl add room temperature butter, peanut butter, vanilla extract, heavy cream, and kosher salt, and mix with a hand mixer or a stand mixer until it is light and fluffy.
- Then add ½ of the powdered sugar at a time (you don’t want to be in a powdered sugar cloud) and mix until smooth and silky.
Assembly
- Pipe a small dollop of the frosting on the surface that you will frost on. Lay the first cake layer over the frosting dot.
- Top the first cake layer with about ⅓ of the frosting and spread an even layer using a spatula.
- Top it with the second cake layer. Frost the cake with the remaining frosting and make a wave pattern using an offset spatula. Slice and enjoy!
Notes
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and cream cheese. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
- Make sure that you are using fresh ingredients like baking soda and baking powder. If they are expired your cake will not rise up beautifully.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with the back of a knife.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have a moist cake and not a dense and dry cake.
- Line your baking pan with parchment paper! This step helps the cake to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your loaf cake will release easily from the pan.
- Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to frost this cake as it is pulled out of the oven, but let the cake cool for at least 1 hour so it will be firmer and won’t crumble up, and prevent the frosting from melting.
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